The Email Bible: James
by NutmegAngel
Summary: What if James was writing his letter today, as a series of e-mails in response to questions from ordinary Christians with ordinary problems?  Well, maybe this...
1. Chapter 1

_Hi James. _

_We're really struggling over here at the moment. Life seems to be getting us down, I don't know what we ought to do for the best. It seems like every difficulty that you can conceive of is being thrown in our way at the moment. _

_Yours in faith,_

_Michael_

Michael,

Don't let it get you down when life gets tough. Instead, see it as a challenge to be embraced joyously, a challenge that will test your faith and develop an enduring strength. Without this testing, you can never become a complete and mature person. Life without the bad bits is as rubbish as sweet and sour sauce with no sour in it. Faith without testing can never be considered true faith.

If you find yourself stuck, your brain overloaded, well, that's easy to solve. Ask God for wisdom and He'll give it you. He won't laugh at you and call you a thicko for not realising what's what. No, God will give you wisdom without finding fault, without any strings attached save this: you must believe and not doubt that this wisdom is yours for the asking. If you doubt, you'll end up like a plane hitting turbulence, thrown all over the sky without a semblance of a pattern, feeling sick and washed out. You won't get anywhere with doubts, doubts that make you unstable and double-minded.

Those of you who find yourself lacking the material wealth this world craves, I say to you this: take pride, for you have treasure in Heaven that is worth far more than any treasure that can be accumulated on earth. And for those of you who are rich, remember that your position is humble, dependent upon the will of God, not a permanent fixture. Wealth and prestige is like an ice sculpture; it looks great until the sun comes up and it starts to drip and disappear. Just when everyone is admiring it, the features melt away. That's what it'll be like for rich people, because wealth does not last forever.

Keep going. You're blessed if you can face up to every trial and temptation that comes your way and remain strong in your faith. God will see your actions and you will receive the crown of life that He's promised you.

I know you're tempted, but don't start blaming God. God's perfect, blameless, without sin. God ain't tempted by evil, and he ain't gonna tempt you with evil. How could He? He's so perfect, evil can't get within a light year of his presence without going up in flames. You're tempted by your own evil desires, getting dragged away and enticed. Stand firm. Because if you let desire be conceived, you'll find yourself on a downwards spiral to sin and death.

Don't let yourself be tricked. Everything in your life that's good and perfect and precious, it comes from up on high, from God your Father in streams of light, bursting fireworks that take their sparkling blessings right down to the ground to alight upon your life. God doesn't change like shadows at the edge of darkness, there one minute, gone the next. No, God is a God of life who chose to give us His new life through his word of truth, making us the prime examples of His creation, perfect prototypes to display his greatness.

Oh, and make a note of this, stick it up on your fridge, read it every morning. Listen eagerly, speak only with consideration, without butting in on conversations before you've heard both sides, and keep your anger in check. Anger doesn't lead to the fantastic, blameless, holy life that God has in store for you. So get rid of all those moral black holes that you've let creep into your lives, have a spring cleaning of your heart so that the message of God, this message of truth and life, can find space and take centre stage, saving you.

Praying for you brother,

James

(James 1 v 1-21)


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: I have finished all the paraphrasing, haven't finished all the e-mail parts. So it will end up complete on here :)

_Hi James,_

_It's been a while since you last visited, we're all missing you. The congregations grown hugely since you were last here, but it's still a nightmare to find people to lead worship and do all those other little tasks we need to keep the church running. It's such a struggle to even find people to do the tea and coffee when the regular couple is on holiday, and it's not fair to make them do it every week. I'd really appreciate it if you could reply, give us some help. I know that we've got grace and we don't have to worry about following the law, but it sure would help if people would occasionally lend a hand. I know exactly how Martha felt when Mary went and just sat listening to Jesus. All these people seem to do is come along, listen to the music, sit through the sermon and occaisionally flick to the relevant passage in the Bible (although half of them don't even seem to have Bibles), drink all our tea and coffee, eat the biscuits, and go home. They say they have faith, but it sure doesn't look like it. And now our pastor is going down the same route. I've tried speaking to him, but he won't listen. Please put in a word for me, remind him of the fact that we still have to act and work and that it isn't enough to just sit and say we've got faith._

_I continue to hold you in my prayers, and look forward to a time when you can travel out to visit again._

_Love and blessings,_

_Sarah_

Hi Craig.

Sarah mentioned you were struggling with your congregation not doing anything. You were so fired up with the Holy Spirit when I was out there last!

Don't just listen to what's been said, don't just read what's in the Bible, and pretend that's all you've gotta do. No, that's pointless, utterly pointless. It's worse than doing one of those facebook quizzes that tells you to be more successful you should do x, y and z and ignoring it. It's worse than getting feedback off a teacher and just chucking it all away and not learning from your mistakes. It's worse than your best mate telling you your make up's smudged and you listen and don't bother to fix it. It's like preening yourself in front of a mirror, then turning away and forgetting what you even look like, so that when you pass another one you're not even sure if it's you that you're seeing. Listen to this message, and then get on and do it! Look at it, study it, and then live it. If you look at this message, really look at it, read it and seek understanding, putting it into practice without forgetting what we've just talked about, then you'll live right, live blessed, live free.

If you reckon yourself to be religious but you blab out whatever you feel like, spreading gossip and lies, setting yourself up to do stuff you never do, making promises you don't keep, you're not religious, you're not truly following God. What God wants is not for you to say the right words, give the right responses, make the right noises, but to go out and look after the homeless and the downtrodden, the orphans and the starving, the widows and the lonely and keep yourself safe from pollution by the world. That's what God wants, people who serve Him, who don't just say they'll serve Him.

Your faithful servant in Christ Jesus,

James

(James 1 v 22-27)

_Hey James!_

_You wouldn't believe who came to our church last week. Only Bill Gates, wasn't it! Man, you should've been there. We had to do a little housekeeping, I got Grace to keep him occupied for a few minutes while we found a nicer chair that didn't have chewing gum on the bottom. He was hanging on every word, and I mean every word. I wish you'd been there. I mean, you'd never know he was like the world's richest man, if you get what I mean. Okay, so there were body guards, but hey, he was there, right? It was a pity he chose the week when we had a couple of the homeless guys sneaking in to keep warm during the service, but I suppose that's life._

_Vy sends her love, little Christie keeps asking when you'll come back too. Stay safe man._

_Karl_

Hey Karl.

Sounds like you got bitten by the celebrity bug. Karl, no one's better than anyone else. If you believe in our fantastic, glorious, majestic Lord, Jesus Christ, don't let yourself show favouritism. Someone comes in wearing the latest designer gear, done up tastefully in jewellery with real stones and gold and silver, practically has the price tags hanging off their clothes so you all know just how well off and fashionable they are. And then, someone else behind them, wearing what're quite obviously shabby hand-downs from Oxfam and they don't even match. If you go up to the first and start giving them the VIP treatment, the best seats in the house, fawning over them and offering to fetch them coffee—and yes, if they want that special brand you'll go specially to the store and get it for them—and then turn to the next and shove them somewhere at the back where no one will really think they're associated with this church, make them feel unwelcome and inferior, aren't you judging them? And didn't Jesus tell us not to judge, particularly not based on the outward appearances of people? Mate, didn't God choose those who don't have diddly squat in the eyes of the world to inherit in His topsy-turvy kingdom? Didn't He promise blessings alike to those who love Him? But there you go, treating the poor like dirt and fawning to the rich. And let's not forget, it's the rich who exploit you, whose greed caused the downturn and so many of you to lose your jobs and livelihood, the rich who drag you into court and slander the name of Jesus. Maybe Bill Gates acted better than some, but if you get that rich you have to be ruthless about who you step on to get there.

If you really want to keep God's commands, to follow the teachings of Jesus, and 'Love your neighbour as yourself', don't show this favouritism. It's sinning, breaking the law, perverting the gospel. You can't pick and choose what laws to keep. You can get pulled into court for murder, but you can get pulled into court for speeding. Either way, you're breaking the laws of this country. Look, if you wanna be treated by the law of mercy and forgiveness, you gotta start showing the love and forgiveness yourself. Mercy will triumph over justice at the end, start letting it triumph now and don't judge those among you on the basis of their appearance or performance. Doesn't God love them all the same?

What's faith worth if it doesn't lead to action? How can you claim to have faith but no deeds? That sort of faith isn't worth the air you waste proclaiming it. Mate, suppose someone amongst you has a need, say they need some new clothes, or some company, or some food. What use is it to turn round and say to them: "I can see you have a need, I wish you well, stay cheerful, God will probably do something about it." No, no, no, no, NO! You're totally missing the point. If you can't help those amongst your own congregation, if you can't show the love that Christ gave to you, what is the point of your faith?

I heard some of you lot are saying "I'll have the deeds, you have the faith for me." I tell you, I would like to see this faith without deeds. Can you show me this faith without deeds? Well... Of course you can't! There's nothing to see if you don't act on your faith. I will show to you my faith by what I do. That's the only kind of faith worth having. Do you believe there's only one God? Good, that's fine. But guess what? Even the demons, even Lucifer himself, believes there's a God, aye, and he trembles to think on it. So how are you different from Lucifer if you only believe in God? Our faith is a faith of action, not of pious sentiment and empty proclamations. Idiots! Do you really think that faith without deeds is worth anything? Abraham got his status of being righteous by offering his son Isaac on the altar, by acting to demonstrate his faith. See, his faith in God meant that he was able to trust Isaac to the altar, and that same faith meant he went and _did _it. His faith wasn't complete until he showed that trust in the real world, fulfilling the scripture and demonstrating that he was serious about God. He got called God's friend, because he listened to God and took his advice. A person can only be made right with God when faith leads to action. Look, even that prostitute Rahab got the title righteous because she helped the Israelites and looked after their spies. Just like a body with nothing to animate it is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

I pray for you all daily.

James

(James 2 v 1-26)


	3. Chapter 3

_Hi James,_

_Mum seems to want me to become a pastor or something. I don't want to, I prefer helping out quietly. She wants everyone to become pastors actually, it's like she wants to start a whole new denomination of Christianity; the Devon Family Churches. Just wondered what your take was. There's so much gossip at church at the moment, you wouldn't believe it. It make me feel kinda uncomfortable when people start talking about everyone else behind their backs. I don't want them to talk about me like that. I won't pass it on, but some of what they were saying was pretty nasty and if it's true (which I'm not entirely convinced about), obviously it does need dealing with. But I don't see why it can't be done in a proper way._

_Oh, I mustn't forget to tell you. Remember Elise? She was really heavily pregnant the last time you came up. Twins, Louise and Damien, and they're the most gorgeous pair you're ever likely to see. We're christening them next month, probably the fourteenth or fifteenth. We'd love to see you if you can make it._

_Love and best wishes,_

_Lucy_

Hey Lucy,

It's good to hear from you again. I'm not sure whether I'll make it or not just now, things are kinda crazy over here. I know what you mean about not wanting to be a pastor, sometimes I feel exactly the same. However, it's these e-mails that keep me going, encourage me. It's great to hear about the twins, and if you feel you've been called to help out behind the scenes, that's as important as being out in front. Feel free to pass on what I say to the others if you think it'll help matters.

Don't all try and be teachers. Us lot who teach have to live up to our teachings, we'll be judged in accordance to them. Everyone stumbles, don't get me wrong, if anyone could get to a point where they were never at fault in what they say, well, then they'll be perfect.

When you use a steering wheel on a car, you turn the whole car around. When you see those supertankers, how do you think they're steered? That's right, a little scrap of metal compared to the rest of the ship, but that little scrap of metal is what directs them. It's the same with that thing in your mouth that you call a tongue. It's a weeny little part of the body, but it exercises great control, makes all kinds of empty boasts if you don't watch it. Think about when there's a massive great fire. You know what started it all off, all that destruction? I'll tell you, it was a spark. Your tongue is a fire too, able to destroy the whole body, corrupt your life if you let it spark off and set things going. You might be able to train your pet dog to do what you say, but nobody can fully tame their tongue with its reckless passion for screwing things up, a nest of poison to corrupt the rest of our body.

With your tongue, don't you offer praises to God? Don't you sing and shout in worship? Don't you read out passages of the Bible? And yet, yet, this same tongue that you use to do these things, you curse people, people made in the image of God. From the same place, you get all this foul language and all this praise. How can this be right? Do you get cheese and onion crisps in a packet of salt and vinegar? No? Or coke out a bottle of fresh mineral water? No? Then why do we let our tongues produce these two different flavours of words?

Anyone over there reckon yourselves to be wise and understanding? You gotta show it with your life, that's the only kind of wisdom that's worth having. Book knowledge is useless if you don't put it into practice. I can know how to build a jumbo jet, but if I don't go and build one, what good did all that learning do me, hey? If you want to be considered wise and understanding, show it through the way you act, through good life, good actions and humility. But if you stow away envy and ambition and selfish determination, neither boast nor deny the truth. This sort of wisdom, the wisdom that leads to quick fixes and wealth at the expense of all else doesn't come from heaven, it comes from t'other place, from the devil himself. Where you start off with envy and ambition, you wind up finding disorder and disharmony and all other manner of rubbish that pollutes life and drags you away from God in chains of sin and hatred. The wisdom from God on the other hand, well, that's the real deal, that's what you really want. Wisdom that is pure, that loves peace, that thinks of others, that submits when it's right to submit, that is full of mercy and brings good fruit. Wisdom that doesn't take sides and isn't offered with shallow piety. If you plant peace in your life and into the lives of others, you'll discover it grows into right living, into righteousness.

Praying for you as always,

James

(James 3)


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi James,_

_Church is so annoying at the moment, I almost don't want to go any more. I know that's bad and I should be going and getting fed and all, but everyone's just falling out with everyone else. Myra's being a real brat, flashing what she's got in front of everyone, and I just want to slap her and shake her out of her idiocy. Boy, I miss when you were here. You probably would slap her and tell her not to be such a brat! Anyway, it'd be great to get your take on all this._

_Oh, my eldest son's off to Oxford next year. Just got his offer through! Boy were we excited, I can't wait to take him down and get him settled in. We've already worked out accommodation and all that, and we reckon he'll be able to get a part time job as well._

_Hope everything's well where you are._

_Debbie xx_

Hi Debbie,

These arguments you've got amongst yourself. What do you think causes them? Let me tell you. They come from the desires that fight within you for predominance. You want something, some new top, some fancy car, and you don't get it. So you start to get jealous and that makes you snappy and you start fights. And you know why you don't get this stuff you covet? It's simple. You haven't asked God for it. And when you do ask, you don't get it, because you're not asking for the right reasons. Why do you need that new car? Is it to impress that girl, and is that girl really the person God wants you to impress? If you know in your heart that what you're wanting is being wanted for the wrong motives, why do you cling to it?

You're acting like prostitutes, clinging to the world and then trying to cling to God too. Well, He ain't gonna put up with it. If you choose to cling to all this material stuff, if you want more and more and more and more and you find yourself seeking money and things rather than God, don't you realise that makes you an enemy of God? Idiots! Maybe you think it was without reason that the Bible says God is a jealous God. Yeh, you heard. Jealous. He wants you, and he doesn't want you with your tongue hanging half out your mouth as you drool over something else. Who would? I mean, would your boyfriend think you were serious about them if every time they looked at you they saw you lusting after someone else, something else? No, of course not. So why do you think it's different with God, that you can be 'in love' with Him and yet still hunt for those other pleasures that you know He doesn't want you to go hunting after because He's got something better in stock.

However. God gives us more and more grace. It says: "God's an enemy to the proud, but to the humble he gives grace". So submit yourselves, humble yourselves before God. Stand up to the devil, and like all well-behaved bullies he'll scarper. Instead, head for God, seek Him out, find Him in the quiet corners of your life and let him have some of the busy bits too. Have a good hot shower and scrub out your hearts, and as you scrub your life out, let yourself cry and grieve and accept the bad feelings about what you went and did to God with your double-minded life. And when you've humbled yourselves, do you know what's so great about God? He'll lift you up.

Don't start holding court and judging your fellow Christians. If you speak against your friends, judging them, condemning them, isn't that taking the law into your own hands? There is only one guy out there who's able to take on the title of Lawgiver, Judge, who can save and destroy and do it _right_. As for you, who do you think you are to try and usurp his position?

And as for you lot who keep making all these plans, saying 'oh, tomorrow, we shall go to London or Paris or Milan, spend a year or two there, make a fortune', since when did you even know what's gonna happen tomorrow? What's your life to God? I'll tell you, it's like a bit of fog on the coast, that's there a little while and then its gone leaving nothing but a damp feeling behind, and even that vanishes pretty swift. Stop boasting about your future plans, and remind yourself that they belong firmly in the hands of God—and what better place is there for them? I'm not saying it's terrible that Andy's been given an offer from Oxford, but remember where that offer came from. It didn't come from the college; it came from God. So instead of saying 'we shall go do this or that', say 'if it's what God wants, we'll live, and we'll go and do these things'. Boasting about what you're gonna do without giving the due acknowledgement to God is evil. If you know what you oughta do and you don't go do it, why, aren't you doing evil?

I'll be praying for you all.

James (James 4)

_Dear Mr J. Davidson,_

_I understand that you have been teaching people to abstain from expensive items and have, in particular, been cautioning people from purchasing luxury items from companies such as my own. I want you to know that we are watching you and that we will not allow our business interests to be threatened. My lawyers are currently drawing up a case against you. I suggest that you desist from your 'radical' preaching and just teach the religious part of your religion, or you may find yourself in more legal hot water than you can handle._

_Please consider this in the manner that it is intended, as a friendly piece of advice._

_Yours sincerely_

_The Directors Group_

Hear me, you wealthy, listen up. Weep, wail, throw yourselves on the floor sobbing, because it's all gonna go wrong for you. All that dosh you piled up has gone rotten right through to the core, and your clothes have been nibbled by moths, gone musty and mucky, and are turned to rags. All your fancy goods, those ipods, that new flat screen telly, the huge sound system you got installed, the fuses have blown and it's gonna burn you up, tearing away at your flesh. You stowed away wealth in these last days. Now look, look where it's got you. You neglected to pay your workers and now they bring their charges against you before the Lord, awesome, powerful, everlasting. You sat on earth in the lap of luxury, but what you don't realise is that you were just preparing yourself for the day of slaughter, like a lamb fed on only the choicest grass before it's hacked up to go on a posh menu. You murdered innocent people who weren't opposing you. Soon it'll be your turn.

(James 5 v 1-6)


	5. Chapter 5

_Hi James,_

_When did it get so hard to think up new sermons? I wish Jesus would just hurry up and get back soon, I'm rapidly running out of any ideas to tell my congregation. And they're running out too. Any ideas when it's gonna happen? We'd really appreciate some wisdom from you, maybe you could send me some sermon notes for inspiration?_

_Emma's pregnant again, I reckon it'll be a boy this time. It has to be a boy at some point, I mean, we've three girls, so the next ought be a boy, right?_

_Thinking of you on your travels. Love to come see you some time, maybe I could persuade my wife it'd be good for the kids? Or I guess I could sneak away from the mad house for a few weeks and maybe come round with you. Be great to see you again._

_Yours in Christ,_

_Peter_

Hi Peter,

Congratulations! And pass my congratulations to Emma too. Four children! I honestly don't know how you manage with them all, but then, I suppose the churches I've got myself involved with feel like children. And believe me, just as unruly. I'd love company on my travels, although I'm not entirely sure that it'd be such a smart idea for Emma and four small children to come as well, it's not exactly the easiest place to travel. Still. Maybe when they're a little older, or maybe the Lord will will it that I can come back your way soon.

You just have to be patient and wait for Jesus' glorious return. It's like downloading a file off the internet. You can't make it come straight off, exactly when you want it. It has to take its time, and no matter how much you yell at the screen it won't come any faster. So don't waste your breath. In the same way, stand firm, wait patiently, God is coming back and it will be soon. Don't start mumbling and grumbling while you wait, else you'll get judged. Look, the Judge is standing right at the door, ready to come and usher in the final act.

Take these for an example, the prophets. Have the proverbial patience of a saint. You know how blessed those who kept right on going in the face of hardships are considered. Gladys Aylewood took her orphans through China, through a war zone, into safety, despite the obstacles flung into her path. And look at how much perseverance it took her to even get to China! And if you turn your Bible to Job, look how he persevered and look what God gave him at the end, look what his patience through suffering brought about. Friends, the Lord is full of mercy and compassion.

Don't swear by anything, don't 'cross your heart and hope to die', don't pinky swear, don't even vow on your mother's life. Instead, say 'yes', mean yes, say 'no', mean 'no', or you'll stand condemned.

My words of wisdom? Well, this is all I can say. If you're in trouble: pray. If you're happy: sing, praise God. If you're sick: go seek out the elders in your church, get them to pray over you and annoint you with oil. It's hard to believe just how powerful, how effective believing prayer can be. But the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well, the prayer offered in faith will forgive the sinner. So confess your sins to each other and pray for each other, and you'll get healed from the inside out, washed out, cleansed, made perfect in Christ. The prayer of the righteous is more powerful and effective than dropping a nuke on your enemies. (Although I must confess I haven't tried dropping a nuke on anyone...)

Elijah, remember him? Well, he was a man just like you and me. He prayed with determination that it wouldn't rain, and guess what? It didn't rain for three and a half years! The BBC have a lot to learn about the weather. And after three and a half years, he prayed, and it chucked it down and the earth started producing crops again. That's the power of prayer.

If any one of you wanders off from the truth, someone ought to fetch them back again. Remember, anyone who shows a sinner the error of their ways will save that sinner from death and wipe clean a multitude of sins.

Hope that helps a little. I'll be praying for you and Emma and the kids (and the not yet kid :) ), blessings to you all at Jubilee.

James

(James 5 v 7-20)

_Hope you've enjoyed the E-mail Bible, James. I'm now working on Ephesians, and hope ultimately to do all of the letters in this way._


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